An actual serious question for the mental health pros among us .......

[Stinky The Clown]

I've always felt that, way deep down inside, Bush knows he's a loser of world class magnitude and hates himself. He knows he's not at all smart and is intimidated by intelligence. He blusters and lashes out in an effort to assuage his own inner demons ..... and we all have to pay for this. I see this self loathing as being at least in part the reason for his sociopathy.

Am I off base with this? Close to reality? :shrug:

I'm not at all versed in such things, but it sure seems to me he's gotta know who he is, no matter the heights he's been allowed/helped to reach.

[FloridaPat]

1. He think he talks directly to God. Everything he's touched turned

to shit, but gold still ended up in his pocket. He thinks he's God's gift to the world. Probably thinks he can bring Jesus back for the Return by redoing the Middle East based on prophesies. I think this guy really belongs in an insane assylum.

[Stinky The Clown]

Both your reply and xrays' imply some greater or lesser degree of

..... grandiosity ..... Am I off base think he's a self loather?

[ultraist]

14. Self loathing is on the opposite end of the spectrum of sociopathy

Sociopathy is extreme narcissism. I think the anger and temper tantrums you are seeing are due to embarrassment and loss of control, not self loathing. He believes he is "God's gift" to the world.

Sociopaths do not feel emotions for others, however they do feel embarrassment and anger. So, when he says something idiotic and realizes it, he may feel a sense of embarrassment, loss of control, thus become angry.

He is incredibly arrogant. I don't see him as self loathing.

BTW, I'm not a mental health professional but have read many psych evals during the short time I did social work.

[FloridaPat]

17. I don't know. How can anyone produce so little and think they're so

great if they hate themselves? I mean, he makes NO effort to produce anything. He always takes the easy and effortless way out. That to me would be someone who thinks the world of themselves or doesn't even think.

[xray s]

2. He's a "dry drunk"

http://www.counterpunch.org/wormer1011.html

First, in this essay, we will look at the characteristics of the so-called "dry drunk;" then we will see if they apply to this individual, our president; and then we will review his drinking history for the record. What is the dry drunk syndrome? "Dry drunk" traits consist of:

Exaggerated self-importance and pomposity
Grandiose behavior
A rigid, judgmental outlook
Impatience
Childish behavior
Irresponsible behavior
Irrational rationalization
Projection
Overreaction

[rockedthevoteinMA]

10. 2nd that xray s... I had an ex boyfriend who was a dry drunk

(yuk) and * reminds me of him - but in a much worse way.

[riverwalker]

3. insight into his black heart

From a review of Kitty Kelly's book "The Family".

"W.'s most distinctive quality in the book is his completely unapologetic attitude about being a child of privilege. He brags to new acquaintances in a political campaign of how his father's name got him out of drunk driving arrests. He tells a Harvard professor openly that he got into the Business School through his dad, happily adding that he got out of Vietnam the same way, as well. Throughout the whole book, W. is mostly bragging or getting drunk, or bragging about getting drunk. It is indeed a great life.

W. does appear more wayward than mean, however, until he gets to Harvard Business School in 1975. That is when he really comes into his own. In one class, he buttonholes a professor for showing "The Grapes of Wrath": "Why are you going show us that commie movie?" Later in that same class, during a discussion on the Great Depression, W. – the same man who has spent his entire life to date boozing and shoving fistfuls of peanuts in his mouth – says: "Look. People are poor because they are lazy."

http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/19888/

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. I am not a mental health pro

I teach kids with learning disabilities. IMO, chimp is a poster child for LD. Mispronouncing words, trouble with word retrieval, impulsive behavior, poor social skills, overly defensive, easily frustrated. I could go on and on.

[XemaSab]

6. I've heard this

this explains the bug in the ear. He supposedly has problems reading off a teleprompter, and doesn't ever really read much, period.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. Yes thanks

I can't believe I forgot to mention the fact that he doesn't read.
:spank:

[Disturbed]

8. The Silverspoon Sociopath is

brain damaged. He is on meds that keep him from falling down.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

5. Well you may be somewhat off but not that much

Bush is an alcoholic that quit drinking but never got sober. What is called a dry drunk. And what is at the core of alcoholism is a hatred of self mixed with a over inflated ego that has gone completely out of control.

Unfortunately, because of the family he comes from we are now stuck with him.

[Jacobin]

9. The clinical diagnosis is "Tiny Penis Syndrome"

He does a lot of compensating

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. LOL

:rofl:

I believe you nailed it.

[Stinky The Clown]

11. I have a follow up ... is it possible he's had a stroke?

I know we've noticed this ebfore. But tonight it seemed even more more obvious. His whole face droops down on the left. His mouth. His left eye seems a bit droopy. More than it ever seemed before and surely more than the normal human facial assymmetricality.

[ultraist]

15. I think that is a side effect from the meds he's on

Just a guess of course.

[Warpy]

13. Sociopaths don't hate themselves

In fact, they consider themselves so superior to ordinary mortals that they have no conscience whatsoever when it comes to abusing other people. True sociopaths utterly lack both insight and empathy. They get by on charm as long as they can, and most ARE charming, as long as you don't get too close. Whether or not Bush is a sociopath is subject to a great deal of debate, and lacking a full examination by a qualified professional, something we're unlikely to know for sure one way or the other.

However, what he does demonstrate is dry drunk syndrome superimposed on the neurological damage done by decades of heavy drinking. There is no way a human being can drink that heavily for as long as he did without damaging his central nervous system. Since he found Jesus in a rich man's bible group instead of AA, he's never had the appropriate and long term treatment that AA provides. Hence, the dry drunk syndrome.

Tonight was his last ditch effort to sell his failed social security destruction scam. It was a desperate move, and he knew it. That it didn't seem to sell any better in a press conference must've totally freaked the poor thing out.

As much as it hurts to see him, can you imagine how much it hurts to BE him?

[TreasonousBastard]

16. This sounds spot on, although....

I'm no expert.

Somehow, however, I just can't find much sympathy for him no matter how much it sucks to be him.